Singlespeed & Fixed Gear"I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five.
Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!"-- Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 - 16 August 1940)

So I'm riding yesterday in downtown Eugene, supposedly officially one of the most bike-friendly towns in the country, heading north in the bike lane of a one-way and entering an intersection with the green, when flying in from my right, going the wrong way in the bike lane of an eastbound one-way, against the light (and with no helmet, but that's another rant for another day) is another singlespeed guy. I have to take some serious evasive action to prevent bike-on-bike spattering of gore.

Me: (firmly, but not really p*ssed) "Hey, guy ... watch the lights!"
Him: "I'm on a BIKE! I don't HAVE to watch the lights!!"

This is why the car people hate us.
This is why the government bodies who pass the laws won't protect us.
This is why cops always assume that the accident was our fault.
This is why we die far more often than we should.

So I'm riding yesterday in downtown Eugene, supposedly officially one of the most bike-friendly towns in the country, heading north in the bike lane of a one-way and entering an intersection with the green, when flying in from my right, going the wrong way in the bike lane of an eastbound one-way, against the light (and with no helmet, but that's another rant for another day) is another singlespeed guy. I have to take some serious evasive action to prevent bike-on-bike spattering of gore.

Me: (firmly, but not really p*ssed) "Hey, guy ... watch the lights!"
Him: "I'm on a BIKE! I don't HAVE to watch the lights!!"

This is why the car people hate us.
This is why the government bodies who pass the laws won't protect us.
This is why cops always assume that the accident was our fault.
This is why we die far more often than we should.

You do realize that driving is slower than riding on most urban routes during the day, right?

Yeah, blowing reds makes us (me) seem irresponsible. Do I care? No.
If that guy in the car gets pissed that I can blow the red and he can't because the cops will nail him, let that guy get his ass on a bike and follow suit.

You do realize that driving is slower than riding on most urban routes during the day, right?

Yeah, blowing reds makes us (me) seem irresponsible. Do I care? No.
If that guy in the car gets pissed that I can blow the red and he can't because the cops will nail him, let that guy get his ass on a bike and follow suit.

Man that's totally what I'm saying... who cares what that dude thinks of me... or any other cyclist. If he's all like "I'm so pissed off, I'm gonna hit that cyclist with my car!!!" and then he can't get me cause I'm all like "ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM!"... then I'll be all 'LULZ'.

But later on, when someone has a negative attitude towards cyclists, I'm gonna whip out my double standards and be all up in their face tellin' them to "**** a duck".

Some here want to be treated as a vehicle, but only when it suits them. Double standards it sounds like to me

yeah, that's pretty much me. i take the lane when it's unsafe for cars to pass or when i'm moving at the speed of traffic, and i even occasionally hop onto the sidewalk when it's safer than the street.

i ride with enough caution and awareness to avoid endangering others and i don't inconvenience drivers unless it's necessary for my safety. i feel that entitles me to do pretty much whatever i want within those parameters.

when they put a bike lane on every street and actually ticket drivers for entering it illegally, i'll consider playing the "vehicular cycling" game.

I think it boils down to the attitude. the guy in the OP's thread will pay for his one day, hopefully another cyclist or motorist wont. Believing your bike makes you immune to any consequence of traffic laws is pretty lame.

yeah, that's pretty much me. i take the lane when it's unsafe for cars to pass or when i'm moving at the speed of traffic, and i even occasionally hop onto the sidewalk when it's safer than the street.

i ride with enough caution and awareness to avoid endangering others and i don't inconvenience drivers unless it's necessary for my safety. i feel that entitles me to do pretty much whatever i want within those parameters.

when they put a bike lane on every street and actually ticket drivers for entering it illegally, i'll consider playing the "vehicular cycling" game.

I consider myself to be a pretty good cyclist, in that I am alert, quickwitted, good reactions etc. But am I 100% sure that if I ride on the pavement/run a red then I'm not going to cause an accident that may kill or injure someone. No. And its not even about being held accountable by the law/other people.

i think what's obnoxious is not that the biker ran the red, but that he did so unsafely while another biker had the right of way.

that said, ever biker in the damn world could be the most law abiding rider ever, and the automobilists would still say, "you should spend your time making sure you all follow the law instead of lobbying for more safe infrastructure" and dumb **** like that. because that line always makes an appearance. always, always, always.

which means that it's not that rider who's making it hard for the rest of us. it is the skewed prioritization toward car culture.

I think critical mass does worse for biking's image to everyone else than a guy running reds.

But that's just me, and I'm pretty RAAR.

Honestly, I don't give a crap about "bike rights" beyond "Killing me is a really bad idea." I don't care for bike lanes (More like death traps and double parking zones) at all, I lock up to parking meters, I deal with *******s in my own way.

And its not even about being held accountable by the law/other people.

exactly. it sounds cliche to say that i obey a more fundamental set of rules than traffic laws, but it's sort of true. what's really important is that we all get where we're going safely.

and you're right, even the most skilled cyclist can not be 100 percent certain that they won't endanger someone when breaking a traffic law. but you can't be certain of that even when you're obeying the law.

it can be argued ad nauseum whether or not obeying the law is always the safest thing to do, and it depends on the situation, but i'm obviously in the "not" camp.